Not Too Hard...

My 13 year old daughter Lucy is on her first band trip.  It's a biggie--from Toronto area to Denver/Boulder Colorado!  Because it's a band made of students from all over our region, they didn't organize a bus to the airport, and they needed to be there at 6:30am.  My husband is on a training course this week, in the opposite direction.  I don't do well with big city driving.  I was able to arrange a ride with another student from her school.  The parents didn't want gas money, but I knew they had an adorable little girl, about 22 months old, so I thought I'd make her something.

Perfect opportunity to make one of those "woven" knit balls!!  I've been wanting to make one for awhile, but I have quite a few balls in my "in stock" bin.  So I needed a reason to make one.  I followed Cheryl's Brunette's video.  She has a link to the pattern.  Cheryl said to make them 20sts wide and 8" long, but shockingly, doesn't give an idea of what yarn or gauge she is using!  I tried 20sts, and it seemed too wide, so I went with 10 sts, and 42 rows, on the LK150 at about T5.  If the strips are too long for their width, the ball won't hold together.  I think my strips might be a smidge on the short side.  I think I might try 45 rows next time.  I sewed mine with the roll to the outside of each strip for a bit more texture.  Oh....idea!  Instead of colours, change the texture for each strip!

I had watched the video a few times so I tried to assemble it on my own.  I was sure I was doing it right, but somehow had two "overs".  So I followed along, and indeed, I was right, and she has it in the video too, but it gets sorted out before it's done.  So don't despair if you can't seem to get it.  There is also a suggestion of cutting six strips of paper, numbering them/colouring them, and weaving them first.

I went to the pet store and bought a cat toy--a bell in a plastic cage.  Then we had to go to the dollar store and right away I saw a 4pk of similar balls for just 25cents more than I paid for the ONE!  Ooops!

I will definitely make more of these.  Everyone seems to love to squish it and figure out the pattern!

Now, for something serious.  I love blogging.  The teacher in me loves to share knowledge, and the writer in me finds this to be a great outlet.  It takes a fair bit of time though.  Taking the pictures, editing them, writing, posting, the whole process.  I have been struggling, financially, this spring though. I have never "monetized" this blog because I find ads annoying and I have never bought anything (readers have to actually buy through the link for you to earn anything) from ads on a blog, so I don't know how much one can really make.  I was thinking of putting a "Donate" button on here, but I'm not very tech savvy.  However, if you are feeling generous and appreciative of my blog, maybe you'd consider donating a little?  In Canada, you can do "e transfers" and my email is tracykm at yahoo dot com.  If you prefer PayPal, it's tracy-rob.mainwaring at rogers dot com.  Or, even better, go to my Facebook page and see what's in my "Ready to Ship" photo album! Maybe there's something there you'd like!  I really, really appreciate my readers and fans :)

Yarn In: 1586gr
Yarn Out: 3813gr + 27gr (ball) + 10gr (waste)= 3850gr
Balance:  2264gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/102days = $0.73/day